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This study seeks to examine the impact of Australian equivalents to international financial reporting standards (A‐IFRS) on the accounts of small‐, medium‐ and large‐sized firms.

For 135 listed Australian entities, the half‐yearly accounts ended 30 June 2005 are examined to identify the effects of A‐IFRS. Data are gathered on the change in major balance sheet and income statement elements, the major reconciling items and earnings variability.

Findings show that more than half of small firms have no change in net income or equity from A‐IFRS, and that there is an increase in the number of adjustments to net income and equity with firm size. The study also finds that A‐IFRS has increased net income for small‐ and medium‐sized firms. Equity has increased (decreased) under A‐IFRS for small (large) firms. Small firms experience higher earnings variability than medium‐sized or large firms under A‐IFRS.

The sample is limited to 31 December reporting date firms and not all A‐IFRS must be complied with when firms restate their comparatives.

Analysts, auditors and other account users should be aware that the effects of A‐IFRS are correlated with firm size.

This is the first Australian empirical paper on the effects of A‐IFRS. It raises doubts about the contentions of some that A‐IFRS will have widespread adverse effects on firms' accounts.

The mandatory conversion to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) has represented much more than a change in accounting rules. Firms’ main concerns have been to understand the extent to which accounting differences between national GAAP and IFRS could affect their reported performance. The purpose of this paper is to address this concern by providing empirical evidence of the nature and the size of the differences between Italian accounting principles and IFRS.

The total and individual differences between Italian GAAP and IFRS are identified and quantified in the reconciliations of net income and equity of companies listed on Borsa Italiana. The focus is to show the major consequences of the conversion to IFRS on accounting outcomes.

The empirical results indicate a more relevant total impact of such a transition on net income than equity. The analysis of individual adjustments shows a greater discrepancy between Italian GAAP and IFRS in the accounting treatment of intangible assets, income taxes, and business combinations with reference to both net income and equity.

The main contribution of the paper is to investigate the impact of mandatory IFRS adoption for Italian listed companies’ financial results. Previous literature does not focus on such a specific country, but it offers a comparative approach to different effects of IFRS on European countries.

This paper aims to examine the nature and level of disclosures on engagement with Aboriginal communities by Australian mining companies.

Content analysis of annual and sustainability reports of Australian Stock Exchange listed companies was undertaken to address the central research aim of this paper. An Aboriginal engagement framework was developed based on the five dimensions suggested by Reconciliation Australia.

The findings of the study report an overall low level of disclosures on Aboriginal engagement by mining companies and reveal that corporate disclosures largely focus on Land and Native title agreements, Aboriginal employment and corporate investment in Aboriginal socio-economic development. The least reported issues include Aboriginal immersion experience, Aboriginal inclusion in leadership roles and commitment to the reconciliation process. The findings of the study suggest that although corporate engagement practices have started to recognise and incorporate marginalised stakeholder rights and issues, only a few companies have created necessary avenues to empower Aboriginal communities. Regarding the reconciliation process, the findings reveal that the companies are mostly reporting on only three out of the five dimensions of the framework.

This study provides a better understanding of the current state of Aboriginal engagement practices in the mining sector, in particular the issues and gaps in reporting Aboriginal engagement to align it with the national reconciliation process, which will be useful for policymakers and, possibly, standard setters to develop future Aboriginal engagement and disclosure policies.

In spite of the rapid development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, disclosure of corporate impacts on Aboriginal people and reconciliation with Aboriginal communities has been given little attention in business CSR practice and previous CSR disclosure literature. This research fills this gap and investigates the increasing uptake of Aboriginal engagement disclosures by business corporations.

One of the most fundamental changes to affect financial reporting in recent years has been the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This paper aims to examine the nature of the Income Statement and Net Equity IFRS adjustments for a sample of companies from the UK, Ireland and Italy following the introduction of IFRS.

A sample of IFRS Reconciliation Statements are examined to identify the most significant IFRS adjustments. Using an index of conservatism, these amounts are further analysed to assess their impact on the accounting numbers reported under previous national GAAP.

For all three countries, the IFRS profit was greater than that reported under previous national GAAP. IFRS also had a significant effect on net worth; while UK and Italian companies experienced an increase in equity upon the adoption of IFRS, the Irish firms in the sample recorded a decrease. The analysis also indicated that the impact of IFRS on profit and net worth was primarily attributable to a few core standards including IFRS 2, IFRS 3, IFRS 5, IAS 10, IAS 12, IAS 16, IAS 17, IAS 19, IAS 38 and IAS 39.

A multi‐country perspective for future IFRS research is required as the impact of individual IFRS varies in importance from one country to another.

By analysing the IFRS that have had a significant impact on accounting numbers prepared under previous national GAAP, opportunities for future research are identified.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the filing of Form 20-F to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on short-term trading volume and return by those foreign firms which list their securities in the US Stock Exchanges.

The authors collected 402 American depository receipt (ADR) firms from 38 different countries that listed their securities in the US Stock Exchanges over a 10-year period of 2000-2009. A regression model was used to examine such impact, including the post year 2007 SEC elimination of reconciliation.

This paper found significant abnormal trading volumes and abnormal returns one day, two days and three days following the 20-F report for the sample firms whose financial statements were prepared under both home-country accounting principles and US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Firms originally using international financial reporting standards (IFRS) do not present abnormal return and abnormal trading volume. This indicates that US investors view IFRS to be as high-quality as US GAAP.

The findings might be limited to this period and might not draw statistical inference for the future period. This evidence offers support for the SEC’s elimination of the reconciliation requirement to US GAAP.

This study was carried out with the aim to investigate whether the release of Form 20-F by ADR firms offers any additional information useful to investors incorporating both abnormal return and trading volume, which is thought to be more sensitive.

This paper investigates the short-term return and volume reactions caused by the earnings and equity reconciliation from home-country accounting standards or IFRS to US GAAP for foreign cross-listed firms in the USA.

This study examines how International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are applied, disaggregates the cumulative effect of the IFRS transition into magnitude measurements of the standard-to-standard differences (by standard) and management discretionary choices (by choice) and tests which transitory effects at every level of disaggregation alter investor behavior.

Using hand-collected data from the IFRS 1 disclosures, the research design consists of eight regression models which test fluctuations in investment behavior as a function of varying measures of IFRS adjustments at aggregated and disaggregated levels including magnitude measurements of pronouncements and management choices.

Findings from the study identify specific standards and management discretionary choices associated with market reaction. Evidence from this study demonstrates the value of disaggregated measures to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of market reaction and associations with transitory effects of IFRS. Findings from the study suggest that the market favors management discretionary choices that decrease retained earnings and potentially increase future net income. Overall, model results suggest that a more comprehensive understanding of the specific standards is obtained that alters market behavior and how the market responds to positive and negative equity adjustments.

This study contributes to the literature examining the capital market effects of IFRS by decomposing the generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) transition into magnitude measurements of specific standard-to-standard differences (by standard) and management discretionary choices (by choice) to understand how the market responds to the transitory effects of a GAAP change. This is important because it puts regulators, standard setters, investors and researchers on notice that the way in which the authors analyze and measure equity components could be consequential to the authors ability to assess a GAAP change. This study informs all jurisdictions which have adopted or are deliberating the adoption of IFRS how IFRS is being implemented and which areas of application are relevant to investors. Further, market reactions to accounting information pertaining to a GAAP change may only be revealed at the disaggregated and decomposed levels of the retrospective application of the GAAP implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on alternative accounting treatments over time to assess their impact on the level of conservatism in a comparison between Italian local accounting standards and USA generally accepted accounting principles.

A case study approach is adopted to investigate the accounting adjustments applied to net income and shareholders’ equity as included in the Form 20-F reconciliations reported by all Italian firms that were listed on a US market over the period 1999-2008. The methodology first introduced by Gray (1980) and frequently applied over 30 years to several international accounting comparisons is adapted to recognise a multi-period dimension of the accounting choice. In particular, the paper focuses on the temporal dimension of such adjustments in order to capture their attitude to reverse or become permanent over time.

The results show that the level of conservatism is visible in the measurement of net assets and is shaped by the prevailing directional effect of accounting adjustments that become permanent as their cumulative reversal is persistently delayed. Such a phenomenon arises and intensifies when the accounting differences relate to recurring operations and/or to long-term assets and liabilities. Amongst them those violating the clean surplus relation are the most controversial as they not only generate a permanent effect in the measurement of net assets, but also an opposite permanent effect in the measurement of earnings.

Future empirical research confirming the finding in different contexts might overcome the limitations of a relatively poor number of observations in the case study.

Identifying the duration of alternative accounting treatments is relevant to assess their potential influence on stakeholders decision-making process as this may steadily influence the future of a firm.

The propositions express a sequence of the timing effects of alternative accounting treatments that highlight the primary role of permanent differences in persistently shaping the value of net assets and help to provide a less erratic interpretation of the level of conservatism.

This chapter is a conversation between the three authors, an Indigenous person, a multigenerational White settler, and a White immigrant, about how equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) connects with the history and pervasive practices of colonialism, White supremacy, and embedded racism, and what might be done to create a new future that is individually and collectively just. EDI has become increasingly embraced by organizations and governments to overcome bias, to increase representation of underrepresented groups, and to revise discriminatory policies across almost all areas of intersectionality. But EDI has no answers for the issues of Indigenous reconciliation and decolonization that seem to exist in a parallel world. A deeper understanding is needed about the individual rights roots of “equity,” as well as knowledge of Indigenous history, since Indigenous communities are not simply additional cultural groups in Canada. The British Royal Proclamation of 1763 initially codified a “nation to nation” relationship, but subsequent broken treaties, and the 1876 Indian Act, imposed a White supremist relationship on Indigenous populations, stole lands, and attempted to eliminate traditional cultures. Since 1970, Indigenous organizations have sought a “citizenship plus” relationship with Canadian federal and provincial governments, a direction supported by more recent court decisions. This chapter includes examples of how these ideas have been applied by some organizations and concludes with a model for developing personal stamina and resilience for learning, reconsidering, and interacting with others about identity issues given the complexities of personal learning and system change.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial statement impacts of adopting NZ IFRS during 2005 through 2008.

The effects of NZ IFRS on the financial statements and ratios of first‐time adopters of NZ IFRS for a stratified random sample of 56 listed companies is analysed. In total, 16 of these were early adopters and 40 of which waited until adoption of NZ IFRS became mandatory. The analysis of the financial statement impact of NZ IFRS is conducted in the context of the accounting choice literature.

The results show that 87 per cent of firms are affected by NZ IFRS. The median and inter‐quartile ranges indicate that for most firms the impact of NZ IFRS is small. However, the maximum and minimum values indicate the impact can be large for some entities. The impact has considerable effects on common financial ratios.

The usual limitations applicable to small samples apply.

The findings may be useful to regulators and policy makers reviewing financial reporting requirements.

This study is the first to offer a comprehensive empirical analysis of the effect of adopting IFRS on financial statements in New Zealand, as well as on selected key ratios of interest to financial analysts. The data used are more recent than most IAS or IFRS studies around the world and are stratified to allow for comparison between voluntary/early adopters and mandatory/late adopters.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the feasibility of preparing a statement of owner equity (SOE) and statement of cash flows (SOCF) for the agricultural sector. Also, the use of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to collect data needed to supplement the US farm sector accounts to prepare a sector SOE and SOCF is discussed.

An SOE and SOCF for an individual producer was used to provide an example format for preparing an SOE and SOCF for the agricultural sector and to identify the data needed from the ARMS survey to supplement farm sector accounts.

The format and data needed to prepare a sector SOE and SOCF were identified and the feasibility of the collection of that data using current ERS/USDA survey collection methods would provide the data needed to prepare the statements. However, the use of two independent data collection authorities to collect the data would result in an agricultural sector SOE and SOCF that would not reconcile.

The paper initiates a dialog of possible alternatives available to the ERS/USDA and researchers concerning data needed and data sources available to prepare an agricultural sector SOE and SOCF, as well as the shortfalls and inaccuracies that would result.